“Serve passed items that are easy to eat, not messy, that you can pick up with one hand always contribute to a great event”. Says Annessa Hartman, senior coordinator for Food in Bloom Catering.

Some say it’s a dog-eat-dog world  We say it’s a shrimp-eat-shrimp world. So, why not incorporate our favorite crustacean into your next happy hour gathering or networking event?

Perhaps you see your CEO or boss like a shrimp: strong external shell, powerful navigator of the sea, and uses his/her feelers for sensibility.

What are some appropriate ways to serve our treasured swimmer of the sea?

Your guests, boss included, will likely have a cocktail in one hand, and flamboyantly storytelling and gesturing hand motions with the other. It’s a safe bet to keep the shrimp simple and flavorful, avoiding sauces, using a skewer stick, and keeping it relevant to your other food items.

If you are going for a Mediterranean themed menu, you’d incorporate flavors like paprika and rich, bright herbs. You likely wouldn’t have shrimp with lemongrass and peanut sauce. And, what if your guests are allergic to shrimp? Easy fix. Provide more than one hors d’oeuvre to your guests, and be open minded in your approach. Your group of guests will likely include someone who is vegetarian or vegan, someone who is gluten free, and someone who has dairy sensitivities.

You may have somebody who had a terrible encounter with shellfish in their past and prefers chicken. It’s important for you to have options, and an experienced caterer will provide you boatloads of choices. Because if your CEO or boss doesn’t like shrimp… well, you’re going to need a backup option to win him/her over. Otherwise, you may get tossed back into the sea.

To quote Forrest Gump: “Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There’s shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That, that’s about it.” –Bubba